WYACC is a community coalition working together to make Waltham a safe, healthy, just and engaged community where all young people can thrive.

Our mission is to support a culture of mental health and wellness, free of substance misuse, for Waltham youth by connecting all sectors of the community, addressing root causes, and promoting advocacy, education, and policy change.

We monitor our progress, in part, by administering the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) every two years. Click below to read YRBS reports by year:

WPY is connecting Waltham High School students and recent graduates with paid internships in a wide range of fields, including law, neuroscience, early childhood education, sports and fitness, and engineering. We provide weekly reflection and skill building seminars for student interns and ongoing support for students and supervisors. This summer, we are piloting the use of the Work Based Learning Plan. Developed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the instrument serves as a supervision tool, helping employers make their expectations explicit and providing a protocol for regular check-ins with students. The WBLP also allows WPY to assess the overall impact the program is having on students’ development of “soft skills”, such as team work and communication, as well as more industry-specific skills.

The goal of LACE is to increase access to information and civic participation among our linguistically diverse community in order to eliminate opportunity gaps for youth and families. By making Simultaneous Interpretation Equipment available to all community partners, and training youth to become interpreters, we are creating capacity within our community to ensure that civic, cultural, and educational events can be interpreted in real time so that all residents are able to access important information, exchange ideas and concerns, and participate actively in our shared community.

If you would like to borrow our equipment for your next meeting or event, please complete THIS form and we will follow up with you shortly. This valuable community resource is made possible by the generous support of the Jones Partnership Fund of the First Parish Church.

Weekend Programming for Teens

We have heard loud and clear that Waltham teens want more options for safe and engaging things to do on the weekends! In response, we are partnering with the Waltham Boys and Girls Club and the Waltham Recreation Department to ensure that there are opportunities for teens EVERY WEEKEND. To support this initiative, we were named a host site by the Massachusetts Service Alliance Commonwealth Corps program. Beginning in the fall, we will host three part-time Commonwealth Corps service members who will help us coordinate programming and recruit youth and volunteers.

#OneWaltham and FR Now (Family Resilience Network of Waltham)

WPY coordinates the #OneWaltham group and is a Steering Committee Member of the FS Now group. Both groups are comprised of youth service providers in Waltham who meet regularly to share resources, identify current trends and needs, and, where appropriate, develop collective responses to those needs. #OneWaltham focuses on high-school aged youth while FS Now focuses more on younger children and their families, with particular attention paid to the needs of non-English speaking children and families.

STEAM Advisory Council

WPY serves on the STEAM advisory council, which is tasked with developing a set of recommendations for the Waltham School Committee regarding the resources and training needed to strengthen the district’s approach to project-based, interdisciplinary learning in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math. WPY will specifically focus on the role that community partners and industry professionals can play in this work. Recommendations will be presented to school committee in November of 2017.